Gascoyne 500 Project
This project replaced the earlier Gascoyne 175 project; the air permits for Gascoyne 175 expired in August 2007.[1] The North Dakota Health Department issued a draft air permit for this plant in May 2007. In June 2007, the North Dakota Industrial Commission announced that the project continues to be eligible for up to $10 million in state aid.[2]
In July, the U.S. Department of the Interior expressed concerns with the prospect of a 500-megawatt (MW) coal plant within the Class I airflow of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. In August 2007, Westmoreland submitted a letter of intent to the Public Service Commission. The final air permit for the project is scheduled to be issued in early 2008.[1]
In May, 2007, co-sponsor Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., dropped out of the project in order to concentrate on Big Stone II.[1]
In May, 2008, Westmoreland Power announced that it was suspending development on the plant and returning $562,500 in state state subsidies for the project. The company cited lack of a customer for the power and uncertainty over carbon regulation. Company spokesman Keith Alessi wrote to the N.D. Industrial Commission: "There is much uncertainty in the utility sector on when future carbon regulation will come into effect. This has slowed the development of coal-fired power plants. ... At this time (we) cannot predict when a long-term customer (for the plant's electricity) can be found and the actual plant construction could commence."[1]
Project Details
Sponsor: Westmoreland Power
Location: Gascoyne, ND
Type: Circulating fluidized bed
Capacity: 500 MW
Status: Cancelled
Financing
Citizen Groups
- Dakota Resource Council, Cindy Klein, cindy [at] drcinfo.com
- North Dakota Sierra Club, Wayde Schafer, wayde.schafer [at] sierraclub.org
Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 “Feds Cite Air Quality Concerns With Gascoyne Plant Project", Bismarck Tribune, August 2, 2007. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bismarck" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ "Westmoreland Eligible for Aid for Power Plant Project, Commission Says", KXMB website, June 28,2007.
Related GEM.wiki articles
- Gascoyne 175 Project
- North Dakota and coal
- United States and coal
- Carbon Capture and Storage
- Existing U.S. Coal Plants
- US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
- Coal plants cancelled in 2007
- Coal plants cancelled in 2008
- State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)
External links
- "Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants", National Energy Technology Lab, May 1, 2007, page 17. (Pdf)
- "Stopping the Coal Rush", Sierra Club, accessed December 2007. (This is a Sierra Club list of new coal plant proposals.)
